Canon PowerShot G10 Review

Compared to... Panasonic DMC-LX3 & Nikon Coolpix P6000

Finally, we compare our trio of photographers' compacts at ISO 1600. This is the highest sensitivity setting offered by the G10 and the highest at which the Nikon produces full-resolution output. The LX3 offers a predictably disappointing 3200 setting, while the P6000 offers 3200 and an ambitious 6400 at 3 megapixels.

It was never going to be pretty but there are some pretty unpleasant results here. The G10's noise reduction has obliterated most of the detail in its image and hammered the contrast too. For fans of watercolors, perhaps? The Nikon has made an even bigger mess of things, peppering its image with white speckling and producing unsightly yellow blotches across other parts of the image.

And, although the LX3's image isn't exactly a paragon of image quality, it's hard not to conclude that it's producing the best results at this point. There's all the noise and noise reduction degradation you'd expect of a compact camera working at this sensitivity setting, but it's balanced the two well and produced a good compromise result, retaining some detail and producing the most accurate color of the three.

Comments

Still a fantastic camera, and how wrong the conclusion was about how popular the G10 would be :). It's certainly not easy to predict camera sales or popularity, however, the G10 offered so much right I can't see how the conclusion could be anything other than highly recommended. Having owned the G10 before, twice, I still crave using it despite the fact that I've owned the G11,12, 15, and now 16 since. Although the G16 is infinitely better in many respects, the G10 remains the kind of camera that challenges the photographer to do everything right - and when he/she does, it rewards you with fantastic image quality.